Communications Manager Day

Friday at work was "Communications Manager Day" - hey, that's ME! And this is the awesomely amazing bag I got my cookies in. It pays to bond over Harry Potter with people, guys. Seriously.

And okay, so this isn't a real holiday or anything...back in October when we had a little celebration for Bosses Day, our CMDO said we should all have days...so our admin assistant abided and drew up a calendar with days for everyone - from PR Manager to Data Researcher Day, we got one for everyone!

Just another reason why I love my job - we have fun. A lot of fun. Maybe too much fun...

The Year of the Devil Wears Prada

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Dear M,

Today is the last day of your job, and I think it's important to write you this letter so you don't forget some things you've learned over the past year. You have a tendency to walk away from something, then romanticize the good aspects later and wonder why you ever left. In case you ever forget, I thought I might remind you with this letter before your memory becomes hazy.

When you found this position, it read like a dream job. It was perfect in every way - and who actually lands a job on the spot at their first interview with a company? It's okay to remember the elation and relief brought by being offered a job back in your beloved field of print. But remember, too, how quickly that perfection turned into your year of living through "The Devil Wears Prada."

Sisterhood...

Myself & some of the lovely ladies I consider my 'sisters'
at my Halloweenie Roast Masquerade.

My work life has been less than rosy lately. I work with mostly women who are so completely different than me in every way, shape and form imaginable. They're skinny and polished with perfect hair and make-up. They don't mind making fun of people over lunch on Fridays, read chick lit obsessively, and they think people like Katy Perry and Lady Gaga are the be-all, end-all of music.

I've always been a curvy girl with glasses. I'm not perfect, but if I don't have something nice to say I generally keep my mouth shut. I listen to bands most of these girls have never heard of and read nonfiction book on topics like the Columbine shootings and the founding of Rolling Stone magazine to educate myself on topics I'm interested in.

To say I don't really fit in is an understatement at this point. And lately, the gap between 'me and them' seems to grow wider. On top of it all, instead of feeling like we're all working towards one common goal, I constantly feel like I'm working with people who are scared you're trying to steal their success rather than help them be successful - a viewpoint I just don't understand. No matter what I do, I cannot seem to please them.

And it's slowly killing me - which is why tonight was such a blessing.

On the Book of Face.

I had a little bit of a rock star moment last week. Well, social media rock star that is. Our editor-in-chief hired a new personal assistant and was going from office to office introducing her.

When she was introduced to me, the one who handles my magazine as well as two of the Facebook pages, the new PAs face lit up.

"THAT'S YOU?!" she exclaimed. I was slightly taken aback.

"Um...yes? That's me..."

"Ohmigod, you do such a good job!"

You can't BUY that kind of praise to happen right in front of my boss if you tried. Seriously.

Facebook is some serious business, y'all.

One phone call can change everything...

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Today was a pretty blah Wednesday.

While I got my to-do list at work under control, I still had a lot to accomplish - esp. after website updates necessitated three hours of painstaking editing because the formatting was all shot to hell. (I HATE the interface we use and cannot wait until we move that site to WordPress - sorry Blogger...)

Just about the only thing I was looking forward to was Happy Hour. My clock hit five o'clock and I was ready to go.

Then the phone rang. And it was for me.

You've Got Mail!

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It's just roughly one month since I began my new job as a magazine editor, and it definitely feels good to be back in print media. Since October 2008 (it took me awhile to realize what I'd essentially thrown away), a part of me has ached to return to assigning articles, selecting photography, making deadlines and approving page proofs. I love it all.

Of course, my previous print job was with a newspaper in a much smaller city where you make four right turns and run into everyone you know. (Okay, Tulsa isn't literally that small, but it's pretty close when you run in small circles, like local media.) I never seemed to keep busy for my full eight-hour days until it was deadline week - and then I was easily running 12+ hour days. One reason was the lack of e-mail. I was on every imaginable distribution list and constantly asking to be added to new ones, but in a town of a couple hundred-thousand people...there's only so much news. Esp. when you're a community publication and don't cover the nitty gritty stuff.

Because of this experience, the thing that's surprised me the most about my new job in a city of two million is the amount of e-mail I get on a daily basis. In the first week, my inbox was a flood of constant messages, leaving me feeling a bit overwhelmed. I easily go through 75-100 e-mails per day. It is for this reason I have zero desire to put my BlackBerry to work doing the exact thing I purchased it for in the first place: fielding work e-mails. It would drive me insane.